ABOUT US: Definition

“Spirit of Place” - definition

“Spirit of Place” is the translation of “Genius Loci”, a Latin expression used by the old Romans to indicate the special atmosphere and meaning of a place. Before building a house, a temple, a palace or even a city, they first wanted to interpret the site, nature, views and understand the ‘spirit’ of that place. Then they placed windows, columns, porticoes and rooms in the right position to emphasize, interpret and welcome that Spirit. Now, the whole country of Italy is a collage of Spirit of Places. Through the centuries people always felt the need to describe and capture this “Italian Spirit” of unique places in architecture, writings, films, music, poetry, photography and other ways of communication. For the foreigner, it is something to be discovered, understood and being fascinated by.

Spirit of Places Ltd is a Tour Operator Company based in Denver, Colorado-USA. Founded by Alvaro Pisoni, its expertise is to offer custom-designed upscale Travel Programs, Tours, Specially Selected Accommodations & Theatrical Events to Italy, the USA and other selective world destinations. On a regular basis, Alvaro travels the world to search for unique sites, places and accommodations with a special atmosphere and ambiance.

Alvaro Pisoni was born in Trento, Italy: an architect and an expert traveler, with degrees from the Universities of Rome and Venice in Italy and Colorado in the USA, where he has lived since 1982. His personal and extensive travel experiences and broad European and American cultural understanding, made him decide to found Pisoni-Ferrari Tour Company Ltd. in 1985. He designs unique, personally accompanied travel programs -for small to large groups- to all Regions of Italy, the Alps and North America.

Architecture & history, arts, travel, geography, music and local cultures have been an intricate part of his growth. He always personally researches, inspects and discovers unique and special places. He has crisscrossed Italy, Europe and North America several times, over back roads, to explore and discover special atmospheres. He believes there is something unique and magic about every place: "The Spirit of a Place"! Being born, raised and educated in Italy, he knows perfectly how to reveal the true authentic Spirit and wonders of Italy and he is happy only when the clients find in their trips more than what they had ever expected.

Alvaro shares his philosophy of travel and passion for discovering special places. With years of personal travel and cultural knowledge about Italy and other selective world destinations and his enthusiasm and love for history, people, lifestyle and spectacular nature, he has founded "Spirit of Places Ltd". The combination of careful dedication and attention, together with his own expertise in finding unique and authentic places, makes him a successful, knowledgeable, energetic planner who can finally offer a more comprehensive, diverse and quality travel service. Therefore, Alvaro is proud to present to you this web site. By confirming your travel plans with Spirit of Places, Alvaro will be glad to share his knowledge of places where special Spirits can still be found... and he will do his best to help you make your "Travel Dream" come true.